Brazil midfielder Fernandinho says it took him some time to come to terms with Brazil’s exit from the World Cup last summer. The City man was widely blamed for the Seleção’s quarter-final exit to Belgium.
Ferna and his family were also subjected to racist abuse on social media, which caused the player to take some time out to reflect on whether he wanted to continue playing for his country. “After the World Cup was a very complicated period personally,” he told Globoesporte.
“For all that the elimination involved, the offenses and abuses coming from people, from the press, all made me very sad, really upset. And from the moment I returned to training, I focused entirely on
the City and had the feeling that I would not be called anymore.
“With the first two calls from Tite, I ended up being not going. A lot of people from CBF called me to give strength because of the racist offenses that my family suffered. But I did not have the feeling that I would wear the Seleção shirt again.
“In November, when I heard that I would be called, I called Edu and Tite and said that at the time I was not ready because of a personal problem. In my head I thought: ‘Now, what do I do? Shall I return or not? Am I going or not?’
“I was going through a delicate situation that had never happened to me, so I asked for more time to think about whether or not I would come back in the future. My will always has been to serve the Seleção.”
